Casting an Eye Upon Alcor's Board

If you're the type who likes to inspect the mechanisms behind the sausage, you should take a look at an article on Alcor's board over at Depressed Metabolism: In January 2008, Alcor’s self perpetuating Board came under renewed scrutiny after long-time Alcor member and cryonics activist David Pizer tried to raise interest for changing the current system to a member elected Board. Scrutiny of the board is a fine tradition for stakeholders in for-profit and non-profit initiatives, as is stakeholder activism to produce desired change. The concern voiced in the article is that born of the perceived need for change at Alcor - to better produce growth, increased professionalism, and so forth - and the concern that a self-perpetuating board has little incentive to make the changes that the writer would like to see happen. Member-voted boards have their own issues, of course, not least that a member (as opposed to stakeholder) has no meaningful ownership right connected to their vote - but the pendulum swings as it chooses. This is all, I think, I fairly good illustration of the transitionary period from volunteerism to professionalism one sees in any growing industry. The cryonics industry has been going through this...

Advancing Knowledge of Stem Cells in the Brain

The brain is a singular organ - our selves are defined by its structure. The aging brain can't be replaced by the same near-future tissue engineering techniques that will give us new hearts and other organs grown fresh from our own stem cells. Thus we are going to have to become very good at repairing the brain in situ, cell by cell, aggregate by aggregate. One of the biotechnologies needed to achieve this goal is mature regenerative medicine, specifically the ability to manipulate and reprogram stem cells within the brain. Those stem cells must first be found and categorized, and progress continues on that front: Evidence strongly shows that the true stem cells in the mammalian brain are the ependymal cells that line the ventricles in the brain and spinal cord, rather than cells in the subventricular zone as biologists previously believed. Brain ventricles are hollow chambers filled with fluid that supports brain tissue, and a layer of ependymal cells lines these ventricles. Knowing the cell source is crucial when developing stem cell-based therapies. Additionally, knowing that these normally dormant cells can be coaxed into dividing lays the groundwork for future therapies in which a patient's own stem cells produce...

Tear Down the FDA

It's a shame that the people most harmed by the existence of the FDA - and the culture of "I have power over you and you shall do as I say" that supports it - are not up in arms. The most vocal opponents of the FDA over the past decade or so are probably folk in the supplement industry. They, despite the threat of jail, losses, and other indignities for doing no more than providing a desired and responsible commercial service, are by no means the most harmed. No, the most harmed are the dying, and we are all counted in that group while the FDA continues in its position that potential longevity therapies will not be approved. No approval means no funds for development, and hence little evidence to show in support of radical change. The cancer patients, the Alzheimer's sufferers, and all those with other named medical conditions suffer as well: the FDA and associated regulatory bodies form a huge ball and chain that slows progress in science to a fraction of what it might be. When medical development costs much more due to regulation, you will see fewer new medicines. When government employees have greater incentive...

Is Your Face Man-Made Or Nature-Made?

Oh dear, it's true! Plastic surgery and injections that paralyze and plump are creating a world where those who have used these procedures have begun to resemble one another. The "done" look is so prevalent especially in certain areas of the country where entertainment, music and fashion abound. The trickle down effect has begun to permeate the ranks of ordinary folk as school teachers, secretaries and wanna-bes go into debt to buy a piece of the American Dream that woos naive men and women into believing that they too can look younger if they just allow certain procedures to be performed.

Anti-Aging and Stress

What do most people do when they are stressed? They frown. And when you frown a lot and for a long time those frown lines and the associated wrinkles on your brow become permanent fixtures on your face and the wrinkles make you look older. Have you ever noticed how people with very little stress in their life look a lot younger than others of the same age? It is not only the effect that the stress has on the lines of your face but also the way that it affects your health as a whole and that can age you considerably.

Here is What Should Know Before Getting Any Wrinkle Cure and Anti Aging Cure

Discovering the miracle wrinkle cure and anti aging cure is one of the greatest desires of any women and now even men, in their quest for that miracle product or solutions they experience a lot of frustration with things that don't deliver the expected results or just don't live up to their claims. Some people go as far as getting botox, plastic surgery, laser surgery and other kind of risky treatments that can work for a while but are very expensive. What i want to tell you is the right way to approach this issue and not fall victim of wrong solutions.

Laser Lip Enhancement

Many women turn to injections for lips that look luscious and smooth. This isn't always appealing to everyone and other options are on the market for lip enhancement. Laser cosmetic treatments also include lip enhancement. Though it's not quite the same as a fat injection, it can result in a noticeable difference in the lines that tend to form around the mouth. As the battle against time wages on, there are non-invasive resources for women seeking enhancement without the needle. An experienced laser surgeon can answer all of your questions with a basic consultation as well as explain the procedure in full.

Affordable Anti Aging Skin Care For Everyone

If anti aging skin care was only available to the affluent then it really wouldn't be fair. It is heartening to know that one can find affordable anti aging skin care. Its affordability allows all who so desire to fight the signs of aging, and not just those who can afford to spend a whole lot of dollars on fancy skin care products. Everyone be they male or female deserves the right to fight aging. Nobody has to walk around with wrinkles and spots unless of course that is what they want because there are anti aging products that everyone can afford.

Anti-Aging and the Environment

The environment that you live and work in will have a considerable affect on the condition of your skin and other aspects of your health that will determine how well you will age. Living in a harsh environment will place additional stress on your skin and as the sun and the weather causes damage it also tends to age a person faster than someone who is protected from the elements. The environment that you live and work in will have a considerable affect on the condition of your skin and other aspects of your health that will determine how well you will age.

Preventing Wrinkles - A Refresher Course

Don't you love being told that you look young for your age? It brightens the day like a ray of sunshine. That is most likely the case if you're part of the female population age 25 and older. Whoever said that to you is probably referring to the amount or lack of wrinkles you have, specifically on your face, neck and hands. If you want to reveal a person's age those are the tell tale places to look. We all know that sun, stress and pollution are the biggest premature aging factors affecting us but you may be amazed to hear some other reasons.

Laser Wrinkle Reduction

With age comes many things, one of the worst being wrinkles. Caused by everything from cigarette smoke to dreaded time, millions of dollars are spent on lotions and creams each year by consumers battling the onset of wrinkles. After years of cold creams that don't work and countless other products that cost more than they're worth, new procedures are offering another option to those afflicted with wrinkles. Laser wrinkle reduction uses the innovation of laser therapy to reduce the effect of deep lines. In just a few visits the results are clearly noticeable and patients are rediscovering years of youth left in their skin.

Anti Wrinkle Firming Cream - The Truth You Need to Know Before You Buy

It never fails. We open up the glossy fashion magazine and there's a mature woman with smooth skin and no bags under her eyes smiling at us with perfect teeth and suggesting we could remove our wrinkles with the anti wrinkle firming cream she is endorsing. And every time there's a little stab of pain in our gut. Our self confidence droops. We feel everyone is looking at our (wrinkled) face. We know we need to do something, but don't know what anti aging wrinkle creams to trust. As I say, this advertising never fails. But right now I would like to encourage you...

Why Some Anti Aging Skin Care Products Are a Waste of Money

The latest research suggests that natural antiaging skin cream is the best way to go. The best products do not contain fragrances and chemical additives, but are derived or extracted from plants and other things that occur naturally in the environment. You may have read that loss of collagen and elastin, as well as decreasing levels of hyaluronic acid contributes to wrinkles, age spots, sagging and other similar issues. There are anti aging skin care products on the market that contain those things. New research has shown that certain proteins support and increase your body's ability to produce collagen and elastin, throughout your life.

Laser For Looking Younger

The fight to stay looking younger longer has been going on for decades, perhaps even centuries. The cosmetic industry is built on fountain of youth formulas and those who continuously seek them. Whether it's a cream or an invasive and potentially dangerous surgery, there is no end to the lengths people will go to in order to regain and maintain the look of their youth. In recent years the use of laser in cosmetic procedures has included another weapon for battling the onset of time. Lasers can be used for a number of things including the terribly dreaded wrinkle and even scarring due to acne or injury.

The Shocking Truth About Many Anti Aging Skin Care Products

Finding a high quality anti aging skin care product that is really effective can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Many anti aging skin care products do not perform as promised. Some of them only moisturize and several are not even very good at that. Recently we looked at the customer reviews for a popular anti aging skin care product sold on Home Shopping Network. The "collagen kit" as it is called was supposed to remove fine lines, lessen wrinkles, enhance the lips and soften crow's feet around the eyes. We didn't find a single person that was satisfied with these anti aging skin care products.

Perfect Antidote to Inflexibility and Aging

Remember: you don't get stiff and inflexible because you age, you get stiff and inflexible because you quit moving in all the ways your wonderful body is capable of moving. The adage: "Move it or lose it!" holds true for the structural body. Combine that with the destructive consequences of repetitive exercises and it's no wonder that physical therapy clinics are full, chiropractors are thrilled, and sports medicine is a booming business. It's also not surprising that people I would call functionally flexible are few and far between. And as stated at the beginning, it's flexibility, or the lack of it, which determines our structural age, and most importantly, our daily experience.

Anti-Aging and Tanning

Most people associate a nice tan with a healthy and youthful look however tanning can be one of the fastest ways to age a person. The sun can do considerable damage to the skin and tanning should only be done in moderation and with a suitable SPF sun protection cream applied at all times. Fortunately with the demand for the tanned look and the fact that many more people are now aware of the effects that the sun can have and the health problems that are associated with over exposure to the sun the cosmetics manufacturers are constantly developing better self tanning lotions and sprays that will give the same 'healthy' tanned look to the skin without the negative side effects of sun damage.

Unofficial Video From Aging 2008

Researcher Attila Chordash is back from last weekend's Aging 2008 conference, and he's posted his video of biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey's presentation from a vantage point at the pre-conference public event. This is how my Macbook saw Aubrey de Grey’s talk exactly 1 week ago on the [preconference] at UCLA. I am minded of the concert bootleg scene, except with scientists instead of musicians, and no bouncers chasing down the camcorders - you'll see what I mean when you watch it. I am told that conference video will be forthcoming from the Methuselah Foundation in due course - it takes a little time for the volunteers to pull all that raw footage together and get it online. The conference was a great success, just like prior conferences under the Methuselah Foundation umbrella, and congratulations are due to the volunteers who worked very hard over the past months to make it so....

Athena 7 Minute Lift Review

Athena 7 Minute Lift is a topical cream that can reduce wrinkles which are the result of aging. It is a natural, safe and effective option to Botox. It can reduce wrinkles without feeling pain and paying high cost for the injection. It is able to lift your face instantly. Moreover it prevents your skin from drying out and developing fine lines and wrinkles in the first place.

Greek Islands Labs which manufactures this product focuses on natural Mediterranean remedies. The 12 botanical oils in 7 Minute Lift actually help to nourish the skin and keep it soft and elastic the whole day. These botanical oils are usually used in Mediterranean cooking. Probably you have heard of the famed Mediterranean diet which help in anti aging.

The Greek oils used in the 7 Minute Lift are jasmine, lemon peel, orange peel, grapefruit peel, sweet almond, sesame seed, avocado, rose flower, peppermint, chamomile flower, olive fruit, lavender, and edelweiss extract. These botanical oils challenge the aging process by making your skin taut.

If you want to learn more about this product, check out our anti wrinkle creams reviews. For more information, read the full Athena 7 Minute Lift review.

Reporting from Last Month's Idea City Conference

A number of folk from the longevity science and radical life extension advocacy communities were at last month's Idea City conference in Canada. A typically "balanced" but otherwise helpful article from the press showed up recently at the National Post: The idea of youth restoration and life extension has long captivated the human imagination, from Dorian Gray's cursed portrait and Ponce de Leon's fountain of youth to cryogenic freezing and Botox. Nowadays, the solutions range from the practical, such as Mr. Rae's extreme caloric tightrope, to the theoretical, which include scientific advances in tissue regeneration, biological tinkering to delay reproduction, and advancing the use of nanotechnology to repair the inner workings of the body with tiny cell-sized robots. These kinds of futuristic solutions were a major focus of a recent conference in Toronto organized by Moses Znaimer, the 66-year-old media mogul who built his career on youth-driven television channels such as CityTV and MuchMusic and is now bent on rebranding 50-plus as the new watershed age for hip and active lifestyles. "If you are having a good time and you are not in discomfort or disarray, we all want to live forever. Who wouldn't want to extend a happy and...

The Membrane Pacemaker Hypothesis

With all the results arriving from comparative study of biochemistry in species of varied longevity, the membrane pacemaker theory is gaining support. For example: Fowl play and the price of petrel: long-living Procellariiformes have peroxidation-resistant membrane composition compared with short-living Galliformes The membrane pacemaker hypothesis predicts that long-living species will have more peroxidation-resistant membrane lipids than shorter living species. We tested this hypothesis by comparing the fatty acid composition of heart phospholipids from long-living Procellariiformes (petrels and albatrosses) to those of shorter living Galliformes (fowl). ... The 3.8-fold greater predicted longevity of the seabirds was associated with [a] significantly reduced peroxidation index in heart membrane lipids, compared with fowl. Peroxidation-resistant membrane composition may be an important physiological trait for longevous species. This mirrors findings in the echidna and in the naked mole-rat, both species marked by great longevity compared to similar animals. It is possible that this has a lot more to do with ways in which differential membrane composition correlates with metabolic rate - which in turn correlates with life span - than with oxidative resistance. It is also possible that these results are a sign that dramatically reducing the oxidative load produced by mitochondria, and thereby reducing the...

Ask Aubrey de Grey About Longevity Research

The next Slashdot interview is with Aubrey de Grey, biomedical gerontologist and advocate for radical life extension. So if you have things you'd like to ask, get over to Slashdot and write up a question: There may be such a thing as a conventional scientist - but Aubrey de Grey is not one. Instead, biogerontologist de Grey has spent much of the last 20 years investigating the science of aging by considering the aging process as a multifaceted disease whose manifestations can be mitigated, rather than an inevitability to merely accept. That might not be unusual in itself, but de Grey believes that by addressing the causes and symptoms of aging, human life can be extended to at least 1000 years - a stance has earned him accolades and contempt in various degrees. (He might not especially mind being called names like "rogue" and "maverick," though.) De Grey is also chairman and chief science officer of The Methuselah Foundation, whose M-Prize for extending the lifespan of mice has been mentioned on Slashdot before. Ask de Grey about his research below; he'll answer the top-rated questions, and we'll publish them in this space. The usual Slashdot interview rules apply - so...

The Mitochondrial DNA Deletions in Your Brain

Biotechnology is improving rapidly: taking sets of individual cells and looking in the state of DNA inside the mitochondria of those cells is a reasonable exercise for a modest research group nowadays. As expected, neurons in old brains have a bunch of deletions: Mitochondrial dysfunction is a consistent finding in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's (AD) or Parkinson's disease (PD) but also in normal human brain aging. In addition to respiratory chain defects, damage to mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been repeatedly reported in brains from AD and PD patients. Most studies though failed to detect biologically significant point mutation or deletion levels in brain homogenate. By employing quantitative single cell techniques, we were recently able to show significantly high levels of mtDNA deletions in dopaminergic substantia nigra (SN) neurons from PD patients and age-matched controls. In the present study we used the same approach to quantify the levels of mtDNA deletions in single cells from three different brain regions (putamen, frontal cortex, SN) of patients with AD (n = 9) as compared to age-matched controls (n = 8). There were no significant differences between patients and controls in either region but in both groups the deletion load was markedly higher in...

Update on the Immortality Institute Folding@Home Prize

Are you participating in the Immortality Institute's Folding@Home competition? You should be - there are prizes, after all. It's a group effort to move the Longevity Meme Folding@Home team up in the rankings, with modest sums of money for the best contributers in each new quarter. I was reminded by the organizers that the new quarter of competition kicked off this month - it's not too late to jump on in: Many thanks to all of the visionaries and contributors who made the inaugural quarter of the F@H Prize a resounding success! The Longevity Meme folding team rose from rank 199 to 172 (as of June 24th) while increasing its point per day output by 150 percent!! The 2nd quarter of competition is beginning on July 1st (all competitor’s scores will be reset to zero) and even more cash is up for grabs thanks to a generous donation by Maciek K. So get ready to rev up your PS3s, overclock your CPUs and, max out your GPUs. ***Special Note: Even though the starting date of the 2nd quarter of competition is July 1st, you can join at any time and your points will start accumulating from the date you register***...

Revisiting Sirtuins Once More

By way of an addendum to a recent post looking at extensions and challenges to what is known of the role of sirtuins in aging and metabolism, let me point you to more research in the same theme: Proteins widely believed to protect against aging can actually cause oxidative damage in mammalian brain cells. [The] findings suggest that the proteins can have both proaging and protective functions, depending on the circumstances, the researchers said. "Sirtuins are very important proteins," said Valter Longo of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. "Overexpression can protect in some cases, and in other cases, it may do the opposite. It has to do with the fact that they do so many things." ... Longo urges caution to those developing SirT1-boosting drugs intended for human consumption. " [Such drugs] could have beneficial effects for certain diseases, but again, these proteins do a lot of things," he said. "I would say the idea that there is a conserved action of sirtuins to cause major life span extension - the foundations for that are weak or very weak. Until we have more data to show that chronic treatment to increase SirT1 activity does not do damage, I...

Rejuvenation Research, Volume 11, Number 3

The latest issue of Rejuvenation Research is online. You'll find a few more esoteric items on calorie restriction biochemistry, but one paper on methionine restriction is more accessible and interesting. By way of a reminder, recall that there's a fairly good argument for the beneficial effects of calorie restriction to largely stem from lowering the intake of methionine, one of the eight essential amino acids in your diet. On Methionine Restriction, Suppression of Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Aging Rats and mice, when subjected to methionine restriction (MetR), may live longer with beneficial changes to their mitochondria. Most explanations of these observations have centered on MetR somehow suppressing the effects of oxygen free radicals. It is suggested here that MetR's effects on protein metabolism should also be considered when attempting to explain its apparent anti-aging actions. Methionine is the initiating amino acid in mRNA translation. It is proposed that MetR decreases the protein biosynthesis rate due to methionine limitation, which correspondingly decreases generation of ribosomal-mediated error proteins, which then lowers the total abnormal protein load that cellular proteases and chaperone proteins (mitochondrial and cytoplasmic) must deal with. That's an interesting thought. All cells carry some amount of damaged and malformed proteins as...

Anti aging Skin Care

We "look old" because of wrinkles, lines, skin blotchiness, age-spots, loss of skin radiance, sagging skin (a big one), "feather" lips, under-eye puffiness (a dead give-away), crow's feet and thinning lips. On a biological level, skin-aging is caused by: free-radical damage, changes in fat content of skin, changes in skin collagen, dehydration, DNA changes, degradation of the elastin polypeptides and certain disorders in the packing of the lipid matrix of the skin.In short, any anti-aging skin care cream, that doesn't attack ALL the problems (tell-tale signs as well as biological changes) associated with skin-aging has no hope other than being an ineffective quick-fix...a band-aid on a bullet wound, so to speak. Anyone who tells you differently is L-Y-I-N-G.

Do Wrinkle Removal Creams and Anti-Aging Creams Actually Work?

Wrinkle creams and anti-aging creams are moisturizers, marketed primarily to women, and are said that they guarantee to make the user look younger by smoothing out wrinkles that are visible on the skin. In recent years, more and more wrinkle creams and anti-aging creams have now been introduced that are marketed towards and for men. These products are hugely popular, mostly to the demographic of middle-aged women, but despite this popularity, many of the products have not been proven to work with lasting or major effects. A normal decrease in wrinkle depth that the wrinkle cream and anti-aging creams offer is, on average, around 10 percent. For some this number is better than not using the cream at all for others they want great results or none at all.

Information - Your Essential Ally in Anti-aging

Not too long ago, Anti-Aging was a term reserved for the rich and famous in search of everlasting youth, delivered to them by HGH injections and plastic surgery. Increasing social pressure to look healthy at all times, to exert no down-time and to look young until death is rapidly expanding the markets for drugs, nutritional products, physical activities, spa's and recreation - but also more aggressive "instant rejuvenation" measures like plastic surgery, laser, Botox, liposuction, steroids and HGH injections. Such instant gratification treatments are counter to sustainable Anti-Aging which must begin at the cellular level by containing oxidizing effects that impair the immune system. The socially induced fear factor is causing people to act proactively about their looks and Anti-Aging concerns often take a central role in people's lives. However, what causes Aging is a question everyone has to ask and the answer lies in individual lifestyle and exposure to the elements. This means that Information is pre-requisite to any effective Anti-Aging therapy.

The AnAge Database

The AnAge database is another of the fascinating resources that researcher Joao Pedro de Magalhaes is building into his senescence.info website. Welcome to AnAge, a curated database of ageing and life history in animals, including extensive longevity records. AnAge was primarily developed for comparative biology studies, in particular studies of longevity and ageing, but can also be useful for ecological and conservation studies and as a reference for zoos and field biologists. You might recall that de Magalhaes is one of the folk pushing for genetic sequencing of long-lived mammals: Among mammals alone there is at least a 40-fold variation in maximum longevity. We still do not know why different species of similar body plan, biochemistry, and physiology can age at such different rates, but these differences must be seated in the genome. So go and take a stroll around the AnAge toolset. Those of you looking for a quick and interesting result can jump straight to the list of species ordered by current best estimate or record of maximum longevity: Scolymastra joubini, Hexactinellid sponge: 15,000 yearsPinus longaeva, Great Basin bristlecone pine: 4,731 yearsCinachyra antarctica, Epibenthic sponge: 1,550 yearsArctica islandica, Ocean quahog: 400 yearsBalaena mysticetus, Bowhead whale: 211 yearsSebastes aleutianus,...

Podcasts on Longevity Science and Economics

As I noted a little while ago, the SAGE Crossroads website rose from the dead this year to restart its series of podcasts on aging research and longevity science, with a focus on policy matters and publicly funded research. That slant isn't quite my cup of tea, but each to their own. The most recent four podcasts are themed on economics: What do the current economic models say about longevity? KYLE JENSEN: The audience of the SAGE Crossroads website is made up of scientists, policy makers, and curious consumers. If there is one last statement you would like to make to them regarding the economics and longevity science in the future, what would it be? ROBERT FOGEL: Don’t be afraid of it; it’s actually the leading industry. The demands of healthcare are going to pull all other industries forward. Of course they require new technologies in steel and heavy industry and as well as delivery systems. I think they should be looked at positively. Again I say if this were a privatized system, we would all say “gee it’s wonderful. All these people want more health care, this industry is thriving”. Let me put one other analogy. Suppose we made...

Revisiting Sirtuins

I was looking at a review of what is known of the role of sirtuins in aging and longevity earlier today: Calorie restriction lengthens lifespan, in part, due to mitochondrial metabolism reorganization through [sirtuin 1-regulated] mitochondrial biogenesis. This reduces radical oxygen species levels that cause macromolecule damage, a major contributor to aging. Little is known about these processes in stem cells, whose longevity is implicated in human aging. Recent work indicates that sirtuin 1 influences growth-factor responses and maintenance of stem cells. Sirtuin 1 is required for calorie restriction-induced lifespan extension in mice, and calorie restriction upregulates sirtuin 1 in humans. Sirtuin 1 also appears to influence lineage/cell-fate decisions of stem cells via redox status. I notice that sirtuins are also theorized to link processes important to cancer suppression and processes important to insulin metabolism (one of the important metabolic determinants of life span), which is why rate of aging and cancer risk seem balanced against one another in most organisms: Recent evidence suggests that the sirtuin family of proteins act as central mediators of this molecular crosstalk. The coordination of DNA repair with overall energy balance may be essential for reducing the risk of developing cancer as well as...